Courage is needed to work in front of a net 4 feet high by 6 feet wide and stop a piece of vulcanized rubber zooming at you at speeds up to 100 mph. Let's not forget about the bodies also heading in your direction.Confidence is also needed when the place of work is the National Hockey League, where the best players on the planet are trying to put that piece of cylindrical rubber past you.

At the not-so-tender age of 30, Viktor Fasth has got a fair share of both as he begins his NHL career with the Ducks. Consider how this Swedish import, just three starts in, stared down San Jose star Patrick Marleau last week.Marleau, who had a league-leading nine goals at the time, was about to make the Ducks' Sheldon Souray look a bit foolish when he picked off Souray's attempt to keep the puck in the offensive zone and steamed around him with the puck.This newcomer was in his sights and a 2-1 lead for the Sharks midway through the third period was certain. But with a split-second decision, Fasth dove out at the three-time All-Star and poked the puck off his stick in a momentum-turning move."I guess it's a pretty old-school thing to do," Fasth said. "If it goes well, it's really good. It can also go really wrong if you miss. You're basically done. There's no way to get up there and repair what you did."This is no ordinary newcomer and there hasn't been much to repair.All Fasth has done for the Ducks is go 5-0 in his five starts with a 1.72 goals-against average and .932 save percentage as he has played a huge part in the team's 8-2-1 start, its best since 2006-07.His first four games turned heads in the hockey world. Fasth gave up only four goals and got his first NHL shutout Wednesday with a 31-save effort in a 3-0 triumph over Colorado.Fasth might be new to the league, but he is the reigning two-time goaltender of the year in the Swedish Elite League. The Ducks wooed him away with a one-way contract worth $1 million for this season, a deal that could be an absolute bargain.